Turkish ambassador to US briefed on new Anadolu project

At US Muslim convention, Ambassador Kilic praises Anadolu’s new package, saying it will fill a huge gap in mainstream media

By Esra Kaymak Avci

WASHINGTON (AA) - Turkish Ambassador to the U.S. Serdar Kilic visited Anadolu Agency’s stand at the largest annual gathering of U.S. Muslims Sunday, where he was briefed about the agency’s new World Report News Package.

On the second day of the 41st annual Convention of the Islamic Circle of North America-Muslim American Society (ICNA-MAS) in Baltimore, Maryland, Anadolu Agency Deputy Director General and Editor-in-Chief Metin Mutanoglu told Kilic about the agency’s latest news service.

The package will deliver political, economic, cultural, and social news from the Islamic world to its subscribers in English, Arabic, and Turkish.

“This new package will focus on the Islamic world, as there is not yet such a large structure for a news network among Muslims,” Mutanoglu told Kilic.

He added that the launch of the package would be done under the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus in June, at the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Speaking after Mutanoglu, Kilic thanked everyone who contributed to the project and said Anadolu Agency’s new package would fill a huge gap in the mainstream media.

“Anadolu Agency functions as a very important tool to deliver the news about ongoing developments in Turkey and Turkey’s political approach to the region, in a correct way, to the correct recipients,” he said.

“From my perspective, this function will become more concrete with this new package.”

On the second day of the convention, tens of thousands of Muslims from across the U.S. continued to visit the dozens of stands at the convention area and to attend other programs.

Delivering remarks at the ICNA-MAS fundraising lunch after visiting the agency’s stand, Kilic thanked the American Muslim community for their contributions to fighting Islamophobia, especially during its steep rise in the wake of the September 2001 attacks.

“Muslims in the U.S. bear an extra responsibility,” Kilic said, also congratulating American Muslims for their message against Daesh’s acts in the Middle East.

“It is not a state, and they are not Muslims,” he said.

“We have to make sure that the Americans understand that. They cannot represent us, they cannot represent a religion whose message is peace. We have to tell this to the Americans.”

The ambassador urged all Muslims to unite to fight Islamophobia with the right messages from the holy Quran and the Prophet Muhammad.